Need help with a Ruger SP101 .357 that went KB!

I own one of the above firearms. It is probably 10-15 yrs. old. I purchased it new and have only fired less than 100 rounds through it. I was shooting it this afternoon with some friends and while shooting it the barrel blew off. (Couldn't find the barrel) Has anyone ever heard of this or know anything about this being a problem with this gun? Everything I've read says they are very well built guns. Barrel wasn't blocked, shot five rounds before it happened. Any info would be appreciated.

Yeah, that "couldn't find the barrel" part is kinda hard to swallow. Did it end up in the next township or somethin'? Maybe a very large bird flying through in that moment grabbed it and put it in its nest 'cause it was nice and shiny?... or one of them dang UFOs again...

Yeah, that "couldn't find the barrel" part is kinda hard to swallow. Did it end up in the next township or somethin'? Maybe a very large bird flying through in that moment grabbed it and put it in its nest 'cause it was nice and shiny?... or one of them dang UFOs again...

Click to expand...

What? You guys don't get out in the field for some plinking? There are plenty of places I shoot where if there were an accident like that, I'd never find the parts. Weeds... holes... if I can't find a golf ball knowing the general area where I hit it, I wouldn't be surprised at all to not be able to find something after an episode like that.

Rough field or not, when the sun came up today I would be in that field and I will find that barrel.
Maybe the cyl. wasn't lined up with the barrel.
Maybe the barrel wasn't tight and loosened while firing.
I want to see pictures of want is left.

"I was shooting it this afternoon with some friends and while shooting it the barrel blew off"...

I mean, really... you AND "some friends" ALL lost track of this barrel after it flew off the gun??? How can this be? Were you shooting off a bridge and it went in the water? What? I don't mean to be flippant but we're still waiting for a response on this mystery... I'd like more reconstruction of the scene... Ruger's family name is involved... I'm interested in more facts about the alleged case... Pictures of SOMETHING would help. An explanation of perhaps why the barrel hasn't been found would help too.

In that video of the .357 blowing up, was the reason it blew ever found out? I'd bet a million bucks that there was a bullet from a squib in the barrel. Same thing with the SP-101. I reload and when I want to test a new round I use my SP-101 because its built like a tank and can handle just about everything. That barrel needs to be found.

Wow, didn't know this would cause such a stir. Anyways, the friends I was shooting with stayed longer than I did and they did find the barrel. It was about 20ft. away I think. It was a rough construction site(rock and dirt)so thats why it was hard to find. Plus we didnt see it as it blew off.
I do understand the skepticism on some your parts, as everything I've read since then attests to the ruggedness and durability of this gun. As they say, "this would only happen to me".
The ammo I was using was Winchester 357 mag. 110gr. jacketed hollow pts. I only shot 6 rds that day and all the spent casings look normal, so l don't think there was any misalignment of the shell. Where the barrel came off the metal is jagged, so it definitely broke off.
I did call Ruger and they told me to send them the gun with an explanation of what happened. The guy on the phone said he's never heard of this happening either, but he did act like they would stand behind it. We will see, I guess.
I've taken pics but I'm not sure how to post them, so someone might have to give me a brief tutorial on how to do it. Probably won't be able to get to it till sometime Sunday though.
Thanks for all the replies.

if I can't find a golf ball knowing the general area where I hit it, I wouldn't be surprised at all to not be able to find something after an episode like that.

Click to expand...

Yeah, but I look for a golf ball for, like, 45 seconds. If this happened to me, I would have looked until the sun went down. I wouldn't just move on. We're talking about $500 blowing up. I'm looking for that!